Finances at Stony Point Center again have emerged as a concern for the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board – with expenses at Stony Point outrunning revenue by more than $286,000 for the first seven months of this year. In response, the Presbyterian Mission Agency is holding off on all but emergency or essential capital spending at Stony Point, hoping that guest occupancy rates at the conference and retreat center outside New York City can increase in the rest of the year, said Mike Miller, acting director of shared services. While Stony Point finished 2017 with an occupancy rate of about 45 percent, the occupancy rate so far this year has fallen a little shy of 40 percent, said Rick Ufford-Chase, who is co-director of the center along with his wife, Kitty. Speaking during a conference call meeting of the board’s Resource Allocation and Stewardship Committee on Aug. 13, Miller said the budget was prepared anticipating a 50 percent occupancy rate – which, if achieved, would have … [Read more...]
Voices and votes of the 223rd General Assembly
ST. LOUIS – “How big a voice do we necessarily have?” A young adult advisory delegate asked that question about Presbyterian influence during a debate at the 2018 General Assembly over a proposal that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) divest from fossil fuel companies (something the assembly chose not to do, favoring continued corporate engagement instead). And it’s a fundamental question — in some ways, both a practical and a theological one for a mainline denomination with a declining and aging membership, whose stated clerk, J. Herbert Nelson, often proclaims: “We are not dying, we are reforming.” The PC(USA) today is not the same denomination it was five or 10 years ago. It has tilted markedly towards the progressive side as more than 350 congregations have left the PC(USA) since 2012 for more conservative denominations — many of them in response to the denomination’s decision, after years of discord, to allow the ordination of gay and lesbian pastors in partnerships and to … [Read more...]
Structure and statutes: Presbyterian Mission Agency Board approves A Corporation bylaw changes
This makes one more step down the road. The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board voted July 19 to approve a series of bylaw changes for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, a secular corporation through which the denomination transacts business for the Presbyterian Mission Agency and Office of the General Assembly. The actions that the board took involving the bylaws parallel the decisions regarding the A Corporation that the General Assembly made in St. Louis in June – decisions with which the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board’s Governance Task Force strongly disagreed. The assembly, however, voted in favor of reconfiguring the structure of the A Corporation’s board. And the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, meeting by conference call July 19, approved a series of bylaw changes to match that new configuration. Also, the voting members of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board are being asked to resign their seats on the A Corporation board by July 26 – so that the … [Read more...]
The persistent prayer — General Assembly closes with worship
ST. LOUIS – The 2018 General Assembly ended June 23 as it began, with worship — proclaiming though song: “To God be glory forever. Alleluia! Amen!” The service included a dramatic reading of Luke 18:1-8, the parable of the widow and the unjust judge, led by narrator Hannah Dreitcer, associate pastor of Webster Groves Presbyterian Church in Webster Groves, Missouri. Joshua Noah, pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Crystal City, Missouri, adapted the text that was used. Along with the text, the participants acted out the meaning of the widow’s persistence in demanding justice from the judge. Their litany: No justice. No peace. Black lives matter. Speak up. What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now! The preacher, Ekram Kachu, a native of Sudan, is pastor of First Arabic Presbyterian Church in Waukee, Iowa — and she preached about “the persistent prayer.” Kachu came to the United States in 2001, fleeing violence in her homeland. She sees widows all around … [Read more...]
Assembly considers #MeToo, #ChurchToo measures
ST. LOUIS – Late in the evening of June 22, the 2018 General Assembly considered a series of measures related to #MeToo and #ChurchToo in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – voting to send two proposed constitutional amendments regarding filing disciplinary cases to the presbyteries for a vote. To take effect, those amendments would need approval from a majority of the presbyteries. One proposed amendment would extend the time limits during which people could bring disciplinary actions in certain circumstances. That would apply in cases in which the person alleging the abuse was under 18 at the time of the incident, or without the capacity to consent. The proposed amendment also states “there is no time limit for charging that a person who knew or reasonably should have known of the reasonable risk of sexual abuse of another” and who “failed to take reasonable steps to minimize the risk.” The Advocacy Committee for Women’s Concerns had asked the General Assembly in 2016 to … [Read more...]
All approved: Assembly approves recommendations from Way Forward, All Agency Review and report from Vision 2020
ST. LOUIS – With relatively little discussion and no drama, the General Assembly approved the recommendations of the Way Forward Commission and All Agency Review Committee. While some commissioners struggled to understand the complexity of the proposals, those who have wrangled with these issues for months – and there’s been no shortage of drama there – have said they involve issues of power, control, accountability and trust. The changes the assembly approved June 21 by a vote of 474-47 will mean governance of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation – a secular corporation the church uses to handle its business – will shift from the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board to a shared governance model. The board will now have 11 members – with representation from five of the six PC(USA) agencies, along with the Advocacy Committee on Women’s Concerns, the Racial Equity Advocacy Committee, Presbyterian Women and three at-large members. That means the agencies that use shared … [Read more...]
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